He added: "Baines not only puts one [free-kick] in today, but two today. That’s three out of two home games as Pennant did the same against us against Stoke. You only expect three in the entire season."

With the scores level and West Ham reduced to 10 men, half-time substitute Romelu Lukaku capped a fine debut for Everton with the winning goal, a header, in the 85th minute.

And Allardyce praised the forward he tried to take on loan from Chelsea this summer, commenting: "Fair play to Everton, they took full advantage.

"The substitute Lukaku made a huge difference. I thought we were going to do it and get a victory, never mind a draw. We ended up losing.

"I’d been talking to Jose all summer, will he want him [Lukaku]? It was no, no, no, until Demba Ba decided to stay. Then there was a quick switch around and Everton got in there before us.